South Dakota takes second-aim on abortion

According to ohmygov.com, South Dakota is planning to place an anti-abortion referendum on their November ballot. The result, if passed, would be the prohibition of all abortions, except in the cases of rape, incest, or imminent danger to the mother's health.

South Dakota is becoming notorious for their state's efforts to overturn Roe vs. Wade legislation. The November referendum will be the second effort since 2006 to ban abortions within the state.

The first effort was a 2006 bill which outlawed abortions within the state. However, a state-voted referendum overturned the bill by a vote of 56% to 44%. According to ohmygov.com, the main contention from voters was the stringency of the bill - the legislation, unlike the proposed bill, allotted no exceptions to the ban.

Although, many say the letter of the law isn't clear to the average voter. "We need to help people understand that the exceptions are very complicated -- this is still a total ban," says Jan Nicolay, co-chairwoman of the South Dakota Campaign for Healthy Families.

Ohmygov.com reports, the bill proposal is 2,400 words defining the intricacies of the law. However, the summation that will appear on the Nov. 4 ballot is only 249 words and critics suggest an "over-simplified" version.

Tiffany Campbell, a South Dakota resident and conservative, stated her concern over the rigidity of the proposed law due to her own experiences, according to the Washington Post.

Campbell was carrying twins, months into her pregnancy, when doctors discovered that the twins were relying on one heart. Doctors advised that if both children were carried to term then both would die, but that if the weaker fetus was aborted then the stronger one would likely survive.

"I was not going to bury two of my babies," Campbell remembers. "If I can intervene and save one of my babies, I'm going to do it."

Campbell successfully delivered her son, Brady, who is now 18 months old. However, Campbell is upset that the proposed legislation, titled Initiated Measure 11, will keep other mothers from making a similar choice.

South Dakota, according to ohmygov.com, has been searching for an avenue to challenge the Supreme Court Ruling on Roe v. Wade. This new legislation, if passed, could create such a case within the State Supreme Court and then be set before the national Supreme Court, where a conservative panel may lean toward a pro-life stance.